1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to inflatable flexible tubing and, in particular, concerns a connector that allows for additional pieces of inflatable flexible tubing to be connected to inflated pieces of inflatable flexible tubing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flooding of buildings, such as offices and houses, can occur for a wide variety of different reasons. Rivers can overflow, sprinkler systems can go off, washing machine or dishwasher hoses can rupture and the like. In all of the circumstances, the interior rooms of the building can become flooded. If the moisture content is not quickly removed from the flooded areas of the buildings, mold can develop which can, in some extreme circumstances, render the building unoccupiable.
To address this particular problem, flood damage specialists typically deploy drying systems that provide air, such as dry air or even heated dry air, into the flooded areas in order to remove the moisture in the walls, floors, carpet, furniture, etc. in the flooded portions of the building. Typically, a dehumidifier and heater are often used to generate warm, dry air that is then circulated into the flooded areas. Oftentimes, an extraction fan is also used so that the air in the flooded portions of the buildings is continuously exchanged.
It is preferable to be able to direct the air into specific rooms of the flooded building. Generally, this is accomplished by using inexpensive plastic tubing, such as lay-flat tubing, that is coupled to an air source so as to provide the warmed, dried air into a particular room or space.
Typically, the air is provided into the building by a larger section of tubing, commonly referred to as a trunk line, that is coupled to the air source and extends in a generally straight line from the point of entry into the building. Oftentimes, the air source is located outside of the building as oftentimes the air source can be quite large. Generally, subsidiary lines of lay-flat tubing are attached to the trunk line so as to extend into other rooms or spaces within the building. Attachment of the subsidiary lines onto the main trunk line of the lay-flat tubing can, however, be complicated.
Generally, the lay-flat tubing is flexible plastic tubing formed of a material, such as a polypropylene type of material usually having a thickness of approximately 5 to 6 mils. Generally, in the prior art, the attachment of subsidiary lines onto trunk lines or any other attachment of one section of flexible plastic tubing onto another section of flexible plastic tubing, is accomplished using either standard ducting connectors or with various coupling rings. More specifically, T or Y connectors made of metal such as tin, aluminum or the like that are used in round metal ducting applications can be used to interconnect different pieces of flexible plastic tubing. While this does afford a mechanism for attaching one piece of flexible plastic tubing onto another, this requires that the installer have multiple connectors with them that are bulky and are subject to damage. Moreover, the flexible plastic tubing typically has to be taped to the connector which further complicates the connection process.
An alternative to using standard metal ducting connectors is to use a clamp-type connector to interconnect pieces of tubing. More specifically, it is common for installers of lay-flat tubing to cut an X-shaped hole into a first piece of flexible plastic tubing. The flaps that are formed as a result of the X-shaped opening are then rolled up and the roll-up flaps are connected to a end piece of the new flexible plastic tubing using some type of connector, such as a hog ring or C-ring connector. While the hog ring or C-ring connectors are smaller in size and easier to transport, this form of connection of one piece of inflatable plastic tubing to another often results in a substantial loss of pressurized air at the connection point as the pieces of plastic tubing are only coupled to one another at the locations of the hog ring or C-ring connectors. To address that difficulty, installers often use duct tape or other types of tape to seal the interface between the two pieces of inflatable plastic tubing.
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the various forms of connecting two pieces of plastic tubing suffer from several difficulties. Initially, each of these connection methods requires the use of components that oftentimes are easily damaged or are not reusable. Moreover, in order to achieve the connection between the two pieces of flexible plastic tubing and reduce leaks, the additional time and expense of applying duct tape to the interface is often required. Further, generally large amounts of tubing is required in order to form the necessary connection which means that the above-described connection mechanisms known become more complicated when tubing with smaller and smaller diameters are being interconnected together.
It will be appreciated that lay-flat tubing is also used in a variety of other different applications. For example, this type of tubing is also used for irrigation purposes where water or other liquid is flowed through the tubing. The connection issues discussed above in connection with air also apply with respect to other uses of flexible plastic tubing such as lay-flat tubing.
Hence, it will be appreciated from the foregoing that there is a need for an improved method and assembly for interconnecting flexible plastic tubing, such as lay-flat tubing used to address water damaged areas. To this end, there is a need for a method and system for attaching flexible plastic tubing that reduces the amount of labor that is required to interconnect two pieces of tubing and further does not require the use of expensive or easily damaged components.